


Bruise Violet

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:29:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Pot, I love you, but Kettle is fine.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bruise Violet

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the alphabet meme and [](http://katewallace.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://katewallace.livejournal.com/)**katewallace** ’s prompt of **B is for boogeyman**. The title is from the Babes in Toyland song, which has nothing do with the story yet somehow fits.

Emily lifted her shirt, inhaling through her teeth. Some of the bruises were turning purple and some were still tender. She touched them with tentative fingers, cringing. How much longer could she stand this? She tried to talk to him about it but they were all in a precarious situation.

“Oh my God, Peaches, what happened to you?” Penelope walked into the bathroom and gasped.

“I'm fine.” Emily pushed the sweater down over her torso.

“That does not look fine to me. What happened to you?”

“Penelope, really, I'm fine. It’s nothing.”

The tech analyst gave her a skeptical look. Emily tried to put on a smile but Garcia wasn’t buying it. She turned serious instead.

“I mean it; I'm fine. Please don’t worry about me. I just have a few bruises and they’re healing. It’s OK.”

Penelope kept staring at her and Emily wanted to run away. This wasn’t going over easy. It wasn’t much she could say anyway; a picture was worth a thousand words.

“Emily…”

“I have to go. There is so much paperwork I have to get done. This will be a neverending day. Excuse me.”

She rushed out of the bathroom with Penelope looking after her. It was definitely going to be a neverending day. Maybe some Motrin would help Emily get through it easier.

***

“Morgan.” He picked up his phone.

“I need you to pretend you're not talking to me.”

“What?”

“Pretend you're not talking to me.” she repeated.

“That’s not gonna be a problem. What's up?”

“I need you to come to my lair right now. Except don’t come immediately; hang up, count to 100 and then come. Don’t make it obvious.”

“Mmm hmm, I'm writing this all down.”

“Great, see you in a few.”

“You got it. Bye.”

Morgan hung up. He looked at Spencer, who was either knee deep in his work or that Carl Sagan blog he was always surfing. When he looked at Emily, she was looking back at him.

“What?” he asked.

“That was a cryptic phone call. What gives?”

“It was Emma from Administration; nothing gives.” Morgan replied. He smiled at his ability to lie so quickly, especially to Emily. They usually saw right through each other when it came to that kind of thing. Garcia and his sister Sarah were the only other people who had that power.

“You're breaking the unbreakable rule now?” Emily smiled too. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Huh?”

“You said you'd never date a woman with a firearm.”

“She’s in Administration. She doesn’t have a firearm…does she?”

“Don’t find out the hard way.” Emily said.

“I promise I won't.”

Morgan got up from his desk and walked out of the bullpen. When he glanced back at Emily, she was already knee deep in her case files. He quickly walked to Penelope’s office. He had no idea what was going on. This could be serious or it could be Rilo Kiley was getting the band back together. Derek wouldn’t even know who the hell Rilo Kiley was if not for his baby girl. He knocked on the door and Penelope invited him in.

“Close the door.” She hissed.

“What's up, baby girl? And why did you need to be all CIA on the phone?”

“Something is really wrong and I don't know what to do. I could be making a mountain out of a molehill, or…”

“Or what?” Morgan leaned against her desk. “Penelope, you know whatever it is, small or extra extra large, I got your back. We go to hell and back forever. You tell me what's wrong and we’ll fix it together.”

“OK,” Garcia took a deep breath. “I went into the bathroom earlier and Emily was in there. She had bruises, Morgan.”

“Bruises? Where?”

“She was looking at them; had her shirt lifted. Some were old and some looked new…on her side and torso. When she saw me she covered them and told me it was nothing. It was something, I'm sure of that.”

“Prentiss has been teaching some Academy defense classes. The bruises could be from that.” he replied.

“Why didn’t she just say that when I asked her?” Penelope asked. “I would’ve understood that. And don’t they have some kind of protective gear in those classes? She looked like someone used her for a punching bag.”

“Penelope…”

“I don’t want to think about it either.” Tears filled her eyes. “I could never believe he was that kind of man…never. But you didn’t see what I saw.”

Morgan took a deep breath, folding his arms. He didn’t want to think about it now but it was in front of him in black and white. Actually, more like black and blue. His jaw clicked as he tried to control his temper, which threatened to boil over. He would have to get some more information before he did what he wanted to do. No use beating the hell out a good friend over a misunderstanding.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.” Penelope jumped up and hugged him. “I just didn't know how else to talk to.”

“No baby,” Morgan stroked her hair and it calmed him some. “It’s all good. I'm glad you talked to me. I’ll do my best to get to the bottom of it.” he kissed her forehead. “It’ll be OK.”

Penelope nodded, cuddling closer. She didn’t want to be a worry wart but what she saw truly disturbed her. She was also bothered by how Prentiss tried to brush it off. She loved Emily and if she was in trouble, Garcia wanted to help fix it.

***

It had been a long day so Emily was happy when JJ suggested drinks at Absinthe. It was one of their favorite places to go and Thursday was 80s night. That meant plenty of good songs and memories while drinking beer and talking about anything but the BAU. This would be the perfect way to coast into Friday and what everyone hoped would be a quiet weekend. Of course, all hell could break loose and they might be on a jet to catch some bad guys. Most had their fingers crossed for a weekend at home.

Morgan invited Hotch out tonight; he always did. The Unit Chief politely declined as usual. Hotch came out sometimes, more than he did before his divorce, but it still wasn’t often. That peeved Morgan, camaraderie was important to the team dynamic. If anyone should know that it was their leader. Tonight though, he was glad that Hotch pulled a Hotch.

He needed to get Prentiss alone and it would be even better if the person he planned to discuss was far away. Derek saw his opportunity when Penelope sent Emily to the bar for a refill on their two pitchers. It was crowded, Thursdays were popular, so she would be up there a while. Morgan excused himself from their round booth and went up to the bar where she was standing. Emily had given the bartender the pitchers… a step in the right direction.

“Hey.” He was wearing a smile.

“What's up?”

“Hotch finked out on us again.”

“Yeah, I know. If anyone needs the break, it’s him. He’s a workaholic and under a lot of pressure. Well, he thinks he's under a lot of pressure. I think he does that to himself more than anything. I don't know.” She shrugged.

“I don't know either. I do know sometimes when men are under a lot of pressure they can lash out at those closest to them.”

“Women do it too.”

“Yeah.” Morgan nodded. “Hotch is a good guy; I've always thought that. I know what he’s been going through since George Foyet attempted to destroy his life. I saw what something like that did to Gideon; you did too.”

“Hotch isn’t Jason.” Emily replied. “Morgan, we've known each other a while now and I consider us to be pretty tight. You don’t have to beat around the bush with me. What’s going on?”

“I care about Hotch and I care about you too. I sympathize with what he's been going through, offering to help more than once. I've offered more than 10 times. He always turns me down. There may be all kinds of pressure I can't even comprehend but if he’s putting his hands on you to relieve his stress…”

“Derek…” Emily held up her hand to stem the tide. Morgan kept going.

“If you're in a situation you can no longer control, please talk to me. We all love you and want to help. No woman deserves to be abused by someone who claims to love her.”

“Hotch would never do that to me, Morgan. He’s not taking anything out on me.”

“Would you tell me if he was?” Derek asked. “I know you keep things close to the cuff.”

“Pot, I love you, but Kettle is fine.” She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Emily, are you sure? Please, it’s only out of concern.”

“I'm fine.” She grabbed the two full pitchers. “I really appreciate your saying all this; I appreciate Penelope too. Nothing like that is happening. C'mon, we better get this beer back to the table before there's a mutiny.”

Morgan nodded and smiled, taking one of the pitchers. When they sat back down, Penelope gave him a hopeful look and he winked. He still didn’t know what was going on. If Penelope said she saw bruises then there were bruises. Prentiss didn’t seem to want to tell him what it was all about.

Derek would just sit back and keep an eye on things. There was no need to jump to too many conclusions. If something was wrong, keen observation would pick it up. No one on the team could hide things, good or bad, for too long.

***

Emily smiled when she took a deep inhale of her black cherry flavored clove. The night was over; she sat in Hotch’s kitchen engaged in her nightly ritual. He was in his bedroom on what seemed to be an important phone call. She only poked her head in for a moment to let him know she was there.

Then it was to the table to come down. She put on the radio; the cheesy love song show she was secretly in love with was in full swing. Emily moved her head to _Been in Love Before_. She had a nice buzz on and a mug of Sleepytime Tea. Too bad they weren't going to do a thing to help her sleep.

“Hey.”

Hotch came out of the bedroom and walked into the kitchen. Emily smiled, tilted her chin up, and he kissed her. Then he joined her at the table with some tea.

“Is everything alright?” Emily asked, flicking the ash off her clove. “That phone call looked intense.”

“I was talking to Jessie. She and I had a long talk about Jack.”

“What did you decide?”

“We’re still not sure. We’re both leaning toward having him speak to a professional. Jessie thinks it’s for the best. This is about more than the Boogeyman, the dreams, and the bedwetting.”

“I know.” She nodded. “I think it’s a good idea, Aaron. Jack needs a place where he can express every thought in his head. It needs to be a place without guilt or repercussions. Therapy isn’t just for people with issues.

“It provides an objective perspective that very few other things can. We all know Jack has been traumatized by what's happened. If he were any other victim you would recommend it. Talking is good.”

Hotch nodded but Emily knew he wasn’t completely feeling it. Jack wasn’t any other victim; he was his four year old son. He would do it anyway because he loved him but Hotch felt it was his job to protect and help Jack. She reached across the table for his hand.

“Where is Jack tonight? Did he stay at Jessie’s?

“He's asleep in his room. We had a long time this evening about a lot of things, including the Boogeyman. Some parts of the conversation were hard but I assured Jack that you and I would never let anyone or anything hurt him. The boogeyman isn’t real but that doesn’t make him any less scary. Sometimes the imagination can make things even worse.

“I told him that light keeps the bad things away so we traded in his nightlight for a Superfriends lamp. He also had Constable Bear and knows we’re right next door. I hold him that he had to sleep in his bed tonight. I explained that even the bravest men have fear but you can't let the fear overtake you. It wasn’t a punishment…it was for his own good.

“Em, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I promised that I’d stay until he fell asleep. It took about 45 minutes, I could tell he was fighting it, but he eventually passed out. It’s been almost two hours and so far so good.” Hotch managed a little smile. “Cross your fingers.”

Emily smiled and did it. She asked Hotch if he minded a second clove; he shook his head.

“Two cloves?” he raised an eyebrow. “I know paperwork can be crazy but I didn’t think it was that stressful.”

“Actually, Jack’s fear of the boogeyman has popped up in other aspects of my life.”

“What's going on?” Hotch asked.

“I was in the bathroom this morning assessing the damage. I was in some pain. Penelope walked in and saw me. She wanted to know what happened; I downplayed it. She must have said something to Derek, out of concern.”

“Concern about what?”

“You’ve been under a lot of stress lately.” Emily took his hand again. “You’ve taken a lot of licks, for yourself and the team, Hotch.”

“Oh my God,” recognition dawned on his face. “Did they really think…my God, Emily?”

“I told Morgan in no uncertain terms that it was not happening. He said he trusted me but was there if I needed him.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him the truth?”

“Our personal business is ours, Hotch. Yes, we might be the worst kept secret in a room full of profilers but it’s still our personal business. Anyway, telling someone Jack sleeps in our bed and he’s a kicker…it sounds like a lie. The truth probably would’ve stirred up even more controversy. Jack is going through enough; everyone doesn’t need to know about this.”

“Maybe.” Hotch pondered.

“I never expected anyone to see the bruises.” Emily said. “Penelope kinda snuck up on me.”

“She has that ability.”

They were quiet for a while, sipping their tea while Emily finished her clove. _Hysteria_ was on the radio and it made her sigh when she locked her fingers with Hotch’s.

“Long day?” he asked, kissing her hand.

“Mmm,” she nodded, putting out the clove. “Going out afterwards was a good plan, even with the craziness. You were missed even though what you were doing here was important. You think I’ll wake him if I go kiss him goodnight?”

“Its possible but I would never keep you from doing that. I’ll sit with him if he wants. Then…you and me baby. It’s been too long since I've held you while we slept.”

Emily gave him a tired smile. Hotch told her that he would clean up the tea and the cloves. They both stood and he was gentle when he hugged her. He’d seen the bruises as well; she’d been keeping them from him too. He knew Emily needed a good night’s sleep.

“I love you, Aaron.” She stroked his face.

“I love you too.” he kissed her. “You’ve been…I know I wouldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

“I’ll always be here.”

Hotch had heard that before. Haley said it; she said it so many times and meant it. Then she cheated on him and walked out the door with his son. He didn’t know if he could bear that kind of heartache again. That was why he tried so hard not to love Emily, which was pretty fruitless. He just didn’t want to lose anymore. Despite everything that happened, the hell and utter hell, she was still holding onto him.

“I'm gonna say goodnight to Jack.” She gave him another kiss and left the kitchen.

Poking her head in the partially open door, Emily saw that Jack was asleep. He was curled up under his blanket and cuddled Constable Bear. She tiptoed over to the bed. Emily bent down, giving him a soft kiss on his hairline. Jack didn’t stir so she headed back to the door.

“Sweet dreams, little boy.”

Emily smiled as she headed over to Hotch’s bedroom. She was so happy that Jack would get the rest he needed without worry or fear. Knowing that she would sleep without feet, elbows and knees turning her bed into a wrestling mat meant her smile wouldn’t fade anytime soon. At least the bruises eventually would.

***

  



End file.
